Spinoff HI School

A current NASA mission that helps with our project is the James Webb Telescope. This telescope uses the folding technology we mentioned earlier to open its mirrors.

To test our spin-off idea, we will set up an experiment to determine how the folding technology will be better than ordinary solar panels. We will start with 2 identical train cars. We will put regular solar panels on one of the trains and extended folding panels on the other. We will measure the energy that each train produces and the distance they can travel and then compare it, and see how efficient it is

All in all, the world is very inefficient. We are using way to many fossil fuels and not enough renewable resources. One way we can help to solve this is by creating a train with unfolding solar panels on it so that we can make the trains less reliant on fossil fuels while increasing the use of renewable resources.

Our spinoff idea from the James Webb Telescope works incredibly well due to the fact that you can open and close the solar panels at any time you want at the push of a button. Tracks already have sensors on them that tell the conductor when there is going to be a tunnel, we can rig that and make it so that it automatically folds the solar panels. If something goes wrong and the solar panels aren't closing, there will be an emergency button that folds the solar panels.

Using the new folding technology of the James Webb Space Telescope will enable us to harvest more solar energy. The larger panels will allow us to keep the train running and make it more efficient over long distances. A byproduct of this invention would be reducing overcrowding on trains in third-world countries. This is accomplished by providing more train capacity at lower cost. With this new technology, the trains will rarely have to refuel making them more efficient and faster.